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Monday, June 30, 2014

Blog hop with a difference

I feel very humbled to have been asked by Paula to join in this blog hop with a difference. I love Paula's work and feel honoured to be included in her list of blogs to share with you all. I am fortunate to be working with Paula on the Show Us Your Stuff design team :) Be sure to check out Paula's gorgeous work and get to know her some more HERE.

Getting To Know Me:

1. What am I working on right now?

I've been working on a few DT projects lately, which I'll share this week. Other than that, I have been making cards for customers and crocheting beanies for my children.

Here are a couple of sneak peeks from my DT projects for you ;)

2. How long does it take to complete a project?

Ooh, people ask me this a lot, and I always have to say, it really does depend... with 4 cherubs in the house, not much gets done in one hit hehehe. But I guess all up, on the days when the kids aren't home, I can get a page done in a couple of hours. I tend to put things on the page without sticking down, then reshuffle a hundred times til I'm happy, then look at it and think "how am I going to stick all these layers exactly where they are now that I'm happy with what I see?!". Anyone else feel like that??

When I create a canvas, it usually takes me a lot longer, as I generally work on them in between other projects and commitments.

3. What are my favourite things to create with at the moment?

Anyone who knows my scrapping knows how much I LOVE gelatos! There wouldn't be many projects these days that I don't use them on. They are so very versatile and fun to use!

My other fave at the moment is Faber Castell's whipped spackle. I love how light and fluffy it is, especially when it's dry, and I'm loving teaming it with all kinds of stencils, masks and colours from various brands of mists and sprays. Other than that, stamps ALWAYS, ALWAYS make an appearance at least twice on my projects... you could say I'm a little addicted to them....

This is only some of them....

4. How does my creative process work?

Hmm, that really depends on what I'm working on at the time. For my DT work, I start with inspiration for the challenge... colour, textures, particular elements... and build from there.

Generally, I love to work on the backgrounds of the layouts, layering up with loads of texture with different texture paste and stencils, masking or colouring with mists (loving the vibrancy of Dylusions sprays right now), lots of stamping to add depth... sometimes I start with the photo and create a page around that, if it's a specific event, such as a birthday or Christmas. Most often though, I find that I don't follow a strict process as such... I just kind of go with what I feel at the time... I rarely have a set outcome in mind when I begin. Basically, I try not to overthink it; I just enjoy doing whatever happens next, and playing around til I like what I see in front of me.

"The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt" - Sylvia Plath -

5. How do I become inspired and stay inspired?

Oh gosh, this is always an interesting question... there are so many things to be inspired by! I have always loved photography, and am usually the go to person for everyone looking for photos... It's not often I don't have a camera within reach. I've always loved inspiring quotes as well, and used to write a different one in my school diary everyday... Scrapbooking just makes sense to me.

I love recording my children growing, and they love to see what I create for them, and look through their albums. There are so very many life events and happenings worthy of remembering and recording, ready for them to fill in the pieces of their lives when they are old enough.

I love to look through Pinterest for inspiration if I'm feeling stuck, as well as magazines, blogs, challenge sites, process videos, even just some of the clothes my girls have, gardens... everywhere!

As a single mum of four, I don't often get to do something 'just for me' and scrapping is the perfect way for me to combat that, as I don't have to leave the house to do it. Most of my scrapping is done at night, once the kids are in bed. It's therapeutic for me to create, and there are not many days that go by without me doing something creative. It's food for my soul.

6. What is my signature style?

Ummmm..... well..... errrrrr..... hmmmm..... Do many of us ever really know how to answer this question??? LOL

I am always in awe when I look at a page and I can pick who's created it, simply because it is created in their style.... I don't know that I have a particular style that is easily recognisable as mine.

I do know that I most often create a lot of texture in my backgrounds, and there is always a cluster or three of embellishments on my pages. I love vibrant colour. I'm really enjoying the mixed media side of scrapping, so I guess that's my style, though as I said, not necessarily recognisable as 'mine'.

Ok, enough about me... time to link you up to some gorgeous ladies joining in on this hop. These ladies are all fabulous scrappers in their own right, and I'm so pleased they've agreed to join in :)

Tarrah McLean

Tarrah's style is very clean and bold, lots of bright colours and 'clean lines'. I really love the composition of her pages, and all the cute elements she embellishes her pages with. Be sure to head over and check out her work by clicking on this link:

Donna is so super friendly and encouraging, and though I haven't had the opportunity to meet her in 'real life' yet, we already share some laughs and fun via FB. Donna's work is so bright and colourful and cheery. I love her gelato/watercolour backgrounds and she always layers such great photos on beautiful papers clustered together. Head over to her blog by clicking this link:

I have loved Linda's work for a long time now. Linda is so warm and encouraging, and I admire her style so much. Linda's ability to layer on her layouts is truly inspiring, and her pages are so elegant and beautifully composed. I love the way she uses earthy tones - she has such a talent for it. Be inspired by Linda's work by clicking on this link:

4 comments:

Firstly, I'm absolutely delighted that you joined me in this hop...thank you! x I love your blog post, those sneaks are absolutely gorgeous, can't wait to see the full reveal! Oh my!!! at your stamp collection, haha & I thought I was bad ;) I'm completely with you on the 'signature style' comment, it use to bother me that I had no 'signature' but realised that is 'my style' & am ok with that ;) Thank you for sharing your creative process with us xo

LOVE all your little sneak peeks & can't wait to see the full projects...they all look gorgeous! Ummm yep, I think you have a slight addiction with stamps there Catie!! lol Although I shouldn't talk, I probably don't have quite that many, but if I organised them neatly like yours, I think I might be shocked at just how many I have. I don't think I have a signature style either...and if I do, it probably doesn't have a name! lol I always find that question difficult to answer :-/ Thank you so much for lovely words regarding my work :) I'm looking forward to doing my post for next week. xx

Was so great to get to know you a little more Catie! Thank you so much for asking me to join you in this awesome blog hop and for your kind words about me hehe, I too am looking forward to doing my post as well xxx